As protests continue in Oakland, so does life — and death

For Oakland police, merchants and residents, the semi-annual protest ritual of tearing downtown Oakland apart is getting pretty old.Oakland police officers say their services could be put to better use than to watch over the adult protesters who choose to act like children.

There is a little twinge of guilt whenever the radio blares out a robbery, burglary or shooting report, one officer said. It’s because it means that there is a person truly hurting and they know there is no one to answer the call.Among merchants, there’s a sense that Oakland city officials are reluctant to use the police to halt demonstrations when they go bad for fear of prompting, losing and paying for another enormous police abuse settlement.

For residents, three days of demonstrations simply mean that there will be three days of less police services, including some of the neighborhoods where police services are needed most. Read more here.